CBCP invites public to 'national healing' walk on EDSA on Nov. 5

Thousands of Roman Catholics carry placards in a "Walk for Life" march around Manila's Rizal Park to oppose the revival of the death penalty by the Philippine Congress as well as the killings of drug users and drug pushers in the so-called war on drugs by President Rodrigo Duterte at dawn Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017 in Manila, Philippines. The Catholic Church expressed alarm over the killings of more than 7,000 people so far since President Duterte assumed office June 30 of last year. AP Photo/Bullit Marquez

MANILA, Philippines—The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has called the public to join its “heal the nation” march along the historic EDSA on November 5.

The CBCP on Friday invited the public to attend a mass at the EDSA Shrine at 3 p.m. on November 5 to “pray for the victims of extrajudicial killings” under the government’s bloody drug war.

After the mass, the public is invited to walk along the stretch of EDSA to join in the candle-lighting ceremony that will be held at the People Power Monument.

For the walk, the CBCP said that it will use the image of the Our Lady of Fatima, the same image brought by devotees during the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution that ousted the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

In a statement, Archbishop Socrates Villegas, CBCP president, said: “We believe that our national healing, which only Lord can grant, will come to us through the hands of His mother.”

Villegas added that people from all walks of life, including politicians and authorities, are welcome to join the procession.

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EDSA has been a common venue for gatherings and protests although attendance varies because of highway's association with the 1986 People Power Revolution and the two Aquino administrations that came after.

The People Power Monument was the site of a spontaneous rally protesting the burial of Marcos' remains at the Libingan ng mga Bayani last November.

Month-long prayer campaign

The “Lord Heal Our Land Sunday” on November 5 will commence a month-long period of church activities for the continued healing of the nation. It will end on December 5, which marks the solemnity of Immaculate Conception.

“Within this 33-day period, we are requested to pray the rosary and receive Holy Communion, if possible every day, for the healing of our bleeding nation and for the peace of the souls of all those killed,” Villegas added.

This comes after the CBCP declared September 23 to November 1 as “season of mourning and prayers for the victims of the spreading culture of killings.”

During the said period, church bells are tolled at every 8:00 p.m. in remembrance of the slain and bereaved due the government’s drug war.

Last month, the CBCP issued a pastoral statement that condemned the killing of three teenagers—Kian Delos Santos, Carl Arnaiz and Reynaldo De Guzman—and the apparent “remorselessness” amid the rising toll of deaths under the drug war.